AstroInfo

The Moon

The Moon is our nearest neighbors in space. Therefore it appears as a splendid object in the sky, and it is no wonder that the ancients venerate as a goddess. Moon Goddess, was almost certainly as important as the Sun God, and the lunar cults remained until recently.

The moon is the brightest object in the sky after the Sun object, but its surface is rather dark by reflecting the light in a manner similar to coal.

Gravitational forces between the Earth and the Moon cause some effects, the best known is the tide where the gravitational force exerted is stronger on the side of the land that is closer to the Moon.

Moon Calendar

The Moon Calendar is an application that allows us to calculate Moon Phases of any month and year. When the Moon orbits Earth acquires different visuals depending on where you are located with respect to the Sun, that's produced different Moon phases we see from Earth.

Constellations

The constellations are groups of stars in the sky which have been given forms or imaginary figures for recognition. These can be identified by looking at the brightest stars in the sky.

A lot of constellations were described and identified in antiquity which are named after animals or mythology. For ancient civilizations the stars were instrumental in the development of agriculture and indicating the start and end of the seasons, for which they created advanced planting schedules.

Light Pollution

A few years ago, talking about a possible threat in the skies was almost illogical. However, the concept of contamination or air pollution is something that is very common in large cities, and Chile is no exception. Its capital, Santiago, has high levels of smog, often reaching critical levels, especially in winter. However, if the skies in the Elqui area, considered the clearest on the planet, were suffering a possible contamination threat, it would be thought to be some kind of bad joke or something.

However, this problem does exist and is known as the phenomenon of "Light Pollution", produced by the diffusion of artificial light, causing a certain glow in the sky at night. But this is a phenomenon that occurs all over the world, not only in some places. We emphasize on the Elqui region, because there are large scientific and tourist observatories there. The invasion of this kind of pollution affects the vision of telescopes and the clarity needed to capture events that occur in the galaxy through the lens.

Astronomy Tips

A good night of astronomy observation requires a good celestial map and anticipating and planning what celestial objects may be seen. If you can, provide a pair of binoculars like those sold at shops specialized in astronomy items, and do not forget to take a pen and paper for notetaking, since it will be necessary to write down everything you observe, as well as the conditions.

Lunar Eclipses

A lunar eclipse is an astronomical event that occurs when the Earth comes between the Sun and the Moon, meaning when the moon enters the shadow of the Earth. This can only occur during the full moon. The moon has a radius of 1736.6 km and orbits the Earth at an average distance of 384,403 km (60.27 Equatorial radius). The height of the cone of shadow is 1,384,584 km (217 equatorial radius), that is greater than the distance from the Earth to the Moon, which is why eclipses occur.

Meteor Shower

When a comet passes through the inner Solar System, the interaction with the solar wind activates its surface. The gases and materials from the comet's surface are expulsed into space and orbit the Sun, in orbits very similar to those of the comet it came from. This forms a ring or stream of particles, technically called the meteor shower.

The terrestrial orbit crosses some swarms of short-period comets, producing meteorite showers every year, such as Leonidas and the Perseidas. When the activity of a shower of meteorites exceeds 1000 meteorites per hour, it is called a meteorite storm.

It is believed that some comets may be exhausted asteroids, comets that have lost all their volatile elements. That is why some showers may originate from ateroides, which is the case of las Gemínidas, which is found in the orbit of the asteroid.